General Washing the seat covers???????????

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General Washing the seat covers???????????

Muppet1

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Well as im giving my car a good clean inside i have discovered you can remove the seat covers and in the interest of wanting to know i have stuck them in the washing machine to wash them.

will let you all know when they come out if they fit.
 
Well they are all as bad as each other to be honest, can you take all the seat covers off inclueding the front backs too.
Just going to see in a minute if the back seats fit, will report back.
 
Well it works just great, I have still to jiggle them about where the seams are, But if you do take them off watch your fingers on the edges as they are really sharp.

Oh and i used a 40 degree wash with lots of powder and a long spin.

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Blimey Muppet, good attempt and everything but isn't time you bought yourself some seat covers.

....unless of course that's the before picture :(

Edit: Ahh I see - you've only cleaned the seats :eek: - Good job (y)
 
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Well didnt want to post the before pic, but as you can see by the back of the back seats they was a bit grubby.
Well the seats got that bad as when my old springer was ill i used to let her on the back seat intead of being in the boot with the others and im having a bit of a purge on the car at the moment so no doubt will be posting more pics as i wash even more seats. I was getting a bit depressed by the state of them to be honest, in fact the whole car was a bit grim but looking so much better after today.
 
Right i have had a search through the forum and havent found anything yet, Can you remove the backrest covers from the rear seats and also the front seat backrest covers as im so pleased with the result of the backs i would like to do all of them if possible.

Thanks.
 
I know there's a seam on the back of the back seats as when I had issues with my seat belt months ago, I had to seperate them to try and get into it (without success). I'm sure how to fully remove this, but would guess there's some catches holding the headrest hole covers in and you'll have to carefully wedge them off to get the actual covers off.

Not sure where else it'll be attached to the seat though as I've never really considered taking them off before :eek:
 
Well i have just finished taking the back rest's of the back seats out and have removed the covers, After removing removing all three of the head rests and the two seat back catches, there are zips along the bottoms and up the sides which you can undo, however mine dont appear to have a zipper bit so as off now i think i am going to have to sew new zips in but will wait and see when they are washed and dry before fitting them back.

When you fold the seat down you will see the seam and the zip and once you have undone the zip on the back side of the backrest at the bottom the material is held on by a u shaped plastic strip that is quite difficult to remove but once uncliped its easy thereafter.

You dont need to remove anything else from the seats as the cover's will pullover the plastic holes the headrests go into and seem to have enough give in the material and togo over the middle seatbelt holder too.

I might take some pictures if anybody is interested when i reasemble them hopefully tomorrow morning.
 
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Right update of the back seat covers,

First get seat on the sofa as i found its better than floor,
DSCF0089.jpg

As you will see the black lines in the foam are the velcro that the covers attach too where the lines are in the covers??

Lovely clean cover,
DSCF0090.jpg

Pull the cover over the seat and gently pull over headrest holes and work it under the plastic parts, And work the cover into the velcro slots in the foam,
Doh forgot to take a pic,

Next on the side that is nearest to the spilt you will find a flat peice of plastic on material side and a plastic slot on the black seat back material
DSCF0091.jpg

This needs twisting round and into the slot from top to bottom so that this side of the seat should be fairly tight,
Next turn the seat round and the two slots in the cushion are used to attach and keep the fabric tight down the bottom of the cushion and using these two lugs just pull the tabs and stick together using the velcro on the ends.
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Now here come the really difficult bit and you will cuss and swear at this next stage,
If your zips didnt have a zipper like mine you will need to get a few from a fabric shop where you need a size 4 zipper, Make sure you have a few of these and maybe a length of zip to practice on, i only had size 3 and it made i difficult as they were too small but i managed,
So you need to thread both bits of zip into the zipper and using your third hand you havent got or a helper do the zips up. You need to keep the zip tight as well as together in front of the zip at the same time pulling the zip.
DSCF0095.jpg

Do this for both zips on the cushion, attach the plastic handle/catch cover and repeat for the other side.
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Its not as difficult as it looks really, But be very carefull if you do this as the edges of the metal are very sharp as my finger will tell you!!!!!!!!!

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And finally the finished Seat,:D:D:D:D

DSCF0101.jpg
 
Before,
DSCF0084.jpg

After,
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I am so pleased at the results i going to do the front seats during the week. Rear head rests are in the washing machine as we speak:eek::eek::eek:
 
Right next installment, Front Seats.

No photos for the disassemble but the photos in this thread are OK to use as a guide to remove the covers,

So start with removing the seat from the car, Then remove all the plastic trim from around the base of the seat, Remove head rest by pushing in the two tabs and pulling headrest from seat. Also remove picnic try with two screws hiding behind the flap that pulls up and folds down. It is also held on by two push fit fitting which given care can be pulled from seat.

Now Fold the seat flat and at the base of the backrest you will see a flap of material held together with Velcro, undo this strip and you will see a black plastic strip which you need to split, i found a flat blade screwdriver and a bit of force to split it.
Now Two seams up the back of the seat pull apart each side and you will see that you then have a u shaped length piece of plastic attached to the seat keeping the material taut, remove these and gently pull the cover from the bottom of the seat at the front and also a good idea to put your hand up the inside of the cover to help pull it of the Velcro strip on the foam cushion. Gently pull the cover over the headrest holes front to back as it seems to be the correct way and there you have one cover off.

Base cushion is quite a bit more simple, Underneath you will see a flap of material being held tight with a rubber band, Unhook this from base off cushion, This reveals another black plastic strip which holds the seat material taut, pull off down wards, Then if you look on the base off the seat you will see two silver clips each side at the back of the base of the seat with a black cord attached.
Unhook both of these follow round the outside of the base where the material is hooked over hooks. There are 2 on the rear corners of the base, 1 either side in the middle and three more on the front of the base cushion. Again gently use your hand inside the seat cover and pull the Velcro apart from the seams on the seat and you have removed the base seat cover.
 
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Right now to reassemble the seats and the covers,
DSCF0112.jpg

Start with the backrest cover and put over the back, And pull the holes over the headrest holes from back to front and gently tease the material back under if needed.
DSCF0113.jpg

When you have done this pull the front down and place the Velcro strips of the seams into the foam of the cushions so it should look like this,
DSCF0114.jpg

Next you have these 2 plastic strips,
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Like so,
Which need to be attached to the two strips of metal indicated and then next you need to place the back of the seat cover into the other side of the black plastic strips that you attached to the seat in the last step.
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Like so
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Next and you will not enjoy the next step, You have to join these two strips together,
DSCF0123.jpg

Its a right pig of a job to do and you will more than likely struggle but it is doable. Once together fold over the flap and stick it to the Velcro.
Should look like this now,
DSCF0127.jpg

Job done.

Base Cushion,
Place the cover onto the cushion and proceed to hook onto the following hooks.
DSCF0129.jpg

These are the hooks on the front of the base cushion that you need to hook onto with the cover,
Once done find the 2 hooks either side of the base as pic shows,
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Now you should be looking at this now,
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And you will need to get the corner of the cover and the cord as shown in this pic,
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Now pull tight and hook onto tag on both corners at the rear of the seat.
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Right, next step is to pull tight the cord and hook onto base of seat both sides as shown in next pic,
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Next is too attach the black plastic strip on the metal strip to keep the material taut as shown,
DSCF0137.jpg

DSCF0138.jpg

Next just fold under the flap and hook under the seat as it was when you started.
One seat done, Replace all the plastic trim, Picnic table and headrest and replace into car.
Admire your hard work and enjoy the satisfaction that you did it.
DSCF0140.jpg

DSCF0141.jpg
 
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